well, I never thought I would finish chapter 2 so soon. I'm really enjoying writing this story! Es macht Spass! (as Momiji would say!) But, sorry all you diehard Momiji fans (like me!), this chapter focuses more on interaction between Hatsuharu and Yuki. I had to get that little impediment out of the way. But Momiji will return again next chapter as happy and bouncy as ever:)

"Yuki-kun," Hatsuharu whispered, though his knocking fist muffled the sound. "Yuki? Yuki? Can I come in?"

Two violet eyes appeared through a crack in the other boy's door, and, although hesitant, Yuki finally pulled back and gestured for his cousin to step inside. Despite the polite smile plastered across his features, sullen purple orbs told of the true state of the rat's emotions. "Thank you Hatsuharu," his cool greeting ebbed with just a hint of graciousness. "Hatori-san told me that you were the one who sent him to retrieve my brother. Thank you."

"It was no problem," the other boy flashed a kind smile in response. "Really, I understand. With all the events this week," Hatsuharu trailed off, mentally reprimanding himself for the reference to Akito's unexpected visit a few days earlier, "well, I could see that it wasn't the best time for Ayame's 'brotherly bonding'."

Yuki broke his pretense, letting his head drop in a mournful nod that told of all his pent-up frustrations. "I just couldn't deal with him. It was horrible. Why does he think that he can just ignore me my whole life and suddenly start acting like we've been best friends all along? He doesn't realize that the walls he put between us cannot be torn down. I don't have a brother. I never have."

"I know you're hurting," Hatsuharu advanced warily, letting a single finger brush at Yuki's silver locks. "And you shouldn't have to face this now. But maybe you've misunderstood him-"

"I hate him," Yuki jerked back, turning his head from the other boy's stare. "That's all I need to understand."

"Listen, Yuki. He is being sincere. He feels sorry for what he did as a child and truly wants your forgiveness. I told Hatori to make him leave because I could see that he was coming off the wrong way to you. But at least he's trying. He's told me some things-"

"So, you've been talking to him?" Yuki interjected, both suspicious and curious. He pulled his shoulders upright and regained his reserved demeanor. "I don't know how you can even stand to be near him."

Hatsuharu smiled as he thought of the vivid man, "Look, Ayame may be a little flamboyant at times, and he really needs to learn that he's not at the center of the universe. But he isn't so bad. I think you may be judging him a little too quickly."

"Well," Yuki muttered, sinking down on his bed. "I guess he wouldn't bother someone like you."

"What do you mean by that?" Eyes widening in surprise, Hatsuharu thought to take a seat beside him, but decided against it. Instead he leaned against the far wall, folding his arms to hide the awkwardness he felt.

"I think you know what I mean," Yuki probed cooly. "Don't you think I am a little embarrassed to have a brother like that? I feel ill when I see him prancing around the house, hanging all over Shigure and Hatori like a love-struck schoolgirl, and realize that he is my closest relative. I have a gay brother. And to make matters worse, he flirts with everyone so openly." He sighed, exasperated. "I was so ashamed when Tohru met him. The only time I feel as uneasy as when I have to face him," Yuki's eyes narrowed intently, "Is when I am with you."

Hatsuharu's heart dropped, but he managed to pull his lips into a nervous smile. "You don't really mean that, Yuki. You're hurting. I know that. You're frustrated with Akito and with this curse, and you're looking for someone to blame." The white-haired boy took a careful step forward, his hands looking for a desperate reassurance as they brushed against Yuki's cheeks. "But I believe deep down you really love me, Yuki-kun."

"Why do you always say things like that when you know they aren't true?" The other boy responded persistently. "You have the sense to save me from my brother's obnoxious chatter, but then you make humiliating comments about me right in front of everyone else. You have been a friend to me, but that is all. The more you pressure me to return your twisted feelings, the more I want to withdraw from you completely."

Haru felt a swelling in his chest, but he willed the sorrow to digress from his eyes after the initial impact. 'So, it really is true, isn't it? Yuki is disgusted and ashamed of me. I just wish he could comprehend how he brought meaning into my life. He was the first person to see me as more than just the stupid ox. But now I'm nothing more to him than the stupid queer.' He winced as the realization hit him. "Yuki, don't you remember how it felt when we first met? You filled a void in my life, caring for me when no one else would. That first night we spent talking and sharing our hidden fears, well, that was the first time I felt alive. You were my first love."

"Please don't say that," Yuki retorted immediately. "We comforted each other and I am thankful for that. But gratitude isn't the same as love. I'm not like you, Haru, and you can't make me share your disgusting urges." He whipped his hair out of his eyes."I can't take this right now. If you have something to say, say it now. If not, leave. Your unwelcome visit is turning out to be worse than Ayame's."

Hatsuharu cast one last look of longing in Yuki's direction, before turning back to the door. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you." His words came halted and uneasy. "I hope you get feeling better."

"Good-bye," Yuki's replied, his frozen tone a complete contrast to the sea of vibrant emotions swirling inside the other boy.

Hatsuharu waited until he was out of Shigure's house and pacing along the lamp-lit sidewalk before he let the swarm of pain overtake him. Hiding his tears in the shadows, he felt a burst in his heart that left nothing but disappointment and shame in its wake. 'I guess the way I feel must be unnatural if I make Yuki so disquieted. I'm just being as stupid as ever, thinking that someone like him would return my feelings. But I wanted to show him how much I respect him.'

A cool wind whispered up the lonely figure's back, and Haru's thoughts immediately jumped to the warmth of Momiji's body. The way he snuggled and squirmed against his larger friend. The softness of his little breaths. The love and generous acceptance that radiated from his embrace. 'This is sick, isn't it Yuki?' The boy imagined a fiery interrogation of his silver-haired cousin. 'I really am repulsive, aren't I? I can't keep my mind out of the gutter every time someone offers me any measure of bodily contact. Here I am, fantasizing about a tiny bundle of energy too naive to realize the effect he has on my wretched mind. He can't even fathom what I'm thinking right now. These are my twisted urges, aren't they? This is what made you so ashamed of me, isn't it, Yuki?'

Collapsing onto the street, Haru felt the gravel stab at him through his flimsy pants. He wrung his hands, gazing ahead but not really seeing anything except blurs of light and color. His head raced as he examined his impulses, but in the nighttime chill, he rendered himself unable to push away dreams of the rabbit's sunny smile. Even though Yuki had deserted him, for some reason he did not feel so alone with Momiji's sweet eyes captured forever in his memory. Once again, the small boy's joy became a sense of hope, even if it also stood as a tempting bane in Hatsuharu's mind. 'Even if it is for my disgusting purposes, I need him. He gives me strength, even if he brings unintentional stress along with it. But, this time I won't ruin everything like the stupid ox I am.Just as I never should have shown Yuki the happiness he brought into my life, perhaps it is best that Momiji never knows the way his heedless actions make me feel. I must keep my shameful tendencies in my own mind if I really do love him. Even if it is hard, I must not corrupt him too.'

Hatsuharu stood up with a new resolve, and was able to continue his walk in relative silence, focusing instead on the rhythm of his feet against the cement. With every step, he sensed the desire for his warm bed and Momiji's carefree laughter, and this gave him peace. Finding the Sohma property at last, he shuffled into Hatori's house and passed his smaller cousin's blacked room. 'Is he already asleep in his own bed?' Disappointment swelled in the cow's mind.

Dreams of late night comfort dulling, he sank under the rustled blankets without even changing his clothes. Instantly slipping into a kind of purposeless trance, he did not notice his door opening until two little feet scurried up into his bed and a bodybounced against his stiffened form.

"You're finally home Haru-kun!" Momiji's voice echoed, as bright as ever, in the darkness.